


king me

by trite



Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe – Canon Divergence, Gen or Pre-Slash, M/M, Post-Star Wars: The Last Jedi, Trust Issues, Unresolved Tension
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-30
Updated: 2021-01-30
Packaged: 2021-03-18 11:48:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,674
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28742766
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/trite/pseuds/trite
Summary: Hux had been in the cell for a little over twenty hours before someone came in.
Relationships: Poe Dameron/Armitage Hux
Comments: 6
Kudos: 30
Collections: Hoelidays Gift Exchange 2021





	king me

**Author's Note:**

  * For [draculard](https://archiveofourown.org/users/draculard/gifts).



Hux had been in the cell for a little over twenty hours before someone came in.

He had been stupid to get caught in the first place. After inspecting their new weapons manufacturing facility he should’ve taken the shuttle back home. He wasn’t expected for another two days and he had wanted to spend as much time as he could away from the acts of obeisance their new Supreme Leader demanded.

Akiva was aligned and _loyal_ to the First Order, in any case. After the fall of the New Republic, they had been cooperative and had swiftly replaced their local government with politicians who were known to be supportive of the First Order’s cause. He had thought it would be safe. He had never been able to recognize the concept of safety in ways that didn’t relate to power, though.

Hux looked up at the intensely bright glowpanels overhead when the light returned. They bathed the room in piercing, blinding light for five minutes before going fully dark for another five. Rinse and repeat. It helped to keep track of time though Hux knew it was meant to have a disorienting effect. His kidnappers were obviously amateurs.

When the door to his cell opened, he squeezed his eyes together quickly, before he could be seen, and willed his vision to adjust and see past the severe light that reflected off of every single white and sterile surface of the room.

“Kriff,” he heard a voice say and suddenly the lights were gone. Nothing but darkness surrounding them. “Okay, this is not better. Hang on.” His captor was clearly here to adopt a good cop routine, pretending to put Hux at ease.

Hux wanted to scoff as his suspicions were confirmed and the room was covered with a soft yellow light. It was enough to see and examine all his surroundings once his eyes adjusted to it.

There was nothing in the room he hadn’t seen before; two chairs set on each side of a square table, a bucket in a corner.

Hux straightened in his chair as he saw the man move away from the panel he had been tinkering with by the entrance and sit down in front of him.

He seemed almost uncomfortable when he said, “are you— I mean, is there anything you immediately need?”

Hux stared at him. He seemed familiar; big brown eyes, stylishly tousled hair, straight out of a propaganda poster. “I would like to get out of here but I don’t suppose that’s on offer.”

“Not as such, no. Are you injured?”

Hux waited for a moment, expecting the _because you’re about to be_ but nothing came. Hux would’ve preferred that to the pretend earnestness on display.

In any case, Hux wasn’t injured. He thought he had a dislocated shoulder that was being aggravated by the position the binders kept only one arm behind his back, with his left wrist locked to his right elbow; it was a creative position, that much Hux would give them credit for. He also had a piercing headache and could probably use a meal or water but he had gone hungry and thirsty before; it had all been part of training.

His captors hadn’t sought to physically torture him, just to subdue him and then spit unconvincing and emotionally-laden threats of bodily harm. It wasn’t them that Hux was concerned about. They probably knew that and were waiting for the First Order to do the dirty work for them. It was typical, the lengths they would go to keep their self-righteous hands clean.

When Hux ignored him, the man across from him said, “I would like for you to get out of here alive and in one piece. Unharmed.”

“And? Did you misplace the keys to the binders? Perhaps you should check your jacket pocket.”

“I have a feeling this would go better and would be more pleasant if you just stopped talking,” he said firmly. “I need you to work with me so you can get out of here alive. If you cooperate with us, we can reach an agreement.”

“Who is ‘us,’ exactly? The Resistance?” Hux asked. He didn’t believe his kidnappers were members of the Resistance. They had been wearing a uniform from the mining facility the First Order had recently installed on this planet.

“Right, yeah. Poor manners. I’m Poe and I’m with the Resistance.”

Hux inwardly groaned. That’s why he was familiar. It was worrying that Hux hadn’t caught on sooner. “I’m almost offended that I don’t warrant an audience with your general. She had to send a recently demoted flyboy to do her dirty work?”

Whatever reaction Hux was hoping for, didn’t manifest and Dameron just leaned forward on the table and rested his chin on his hand, looking bored. “Are you done? As I said, cooperate. You’re second in command. Whatever intel you have, we could use it and we want it.”

“Forgive me if your recent actions aren’t endearing me to your cause.”

Dameron swallowed and rubbed his temples. “It’s war, you don’t exactly get to pick your allies.” He stared at Hux. “But you honestly just expect people to surrender to you, don’t you? To the First Order?”

“Their government agreed to—”

“You mean the government you installed. The one who is unconcerned with what occupation means to the average citizen who is getting pushed out of their homes and exploited by your people?”

“Should the average citizen be my main concern? We’ve offered people employment opportunities. Ones they wouldn’t have access to without the First Order.”

“I’m offering you an employment opportunity but you don’t seem amenable. I guess the air of coercion takes off its shine, doesn’t it?” Dameron asked.

“You won’t coerce me into working for you. Stop wasting time and get on with the torture. It will at least provide an outlet for your frustrations.”

“It’s not us you have to worry about; it’s your own side. Right now, no one knows you’re gone. Tomorrow when you don’t show up? That’s a different story. Do you think they’ll try to rescue you? You will be giving your Supreme Leader the perfect excuse to get rid of you. We know he’s been looking for one.”

Hux looked away, clenched his fists, and felt the resulting pain that the motion sent to his body ground him in the present moment.

“Hey,” Dameron said, having the audacity to look apologetic. “You have a small window of opportunity to decide. Work with me here.”

“You should know the good cop act doesn’t work for you. It makes you seem weak and not as someone who inspires confidence.”

“Okay, thanks for the feedback. I’ll come back in a couple of hours to check up on you.” Dameron pushed the chair back as he stood. The sound against the duracrete was deafening and temporarily disorienting. “Do you need anything?” When Hux didn’t reply, he added, “okay, just think about what I said, then.”

“Wait,” Hux said when Dameron was near the door. “I would be able to think better if the binders were gone.” It was a test. Hux wondered how far Dameron was willing to stretch his kindness act.

“Nope, I can’t do that.” He drummed his fingers against his leg, his fingertips brushing the blaster strapped to his thigh. After a moment, he added, “I’ll take them off for a bit so you can get some circulation back, okay?”

Hux wasn’t exactly in a position to make a counteroffer and it was more than he had been expecting. It was certainly more than he would have done for a prisoner.

Dameron approached him and stared at Hux’s right hand by his side confusedly for a second before turning Hux around. “Oh kriff, that’s gotta be— sorry. I won’t cuff you back like this.”

Hux let out an involuntary noise when his arms were freed and flinched back when Dameron reached out for him.

“Sorry,” Dameron repeated, his palms up. He put some distance between himself and Hux and rubbed his hands over his face.

Hux flexed his fingers, feeling sensation rush back to his body but leaving behind pain instead of relief.

After a few minutes, Dameron said, “I need to put these back on now.” He approached Hux as one would a rabid animal; slowly and carefully, prepared to be attacked at any moment.

He grabbed Hux’s wrists in his hands, his thumb briefly brushing Hux’s pulse, before he locked the binders in place, leaving his hands to rest in front of him.

The flickering lights didn’t make a return once Dameron left, so Hux didn’t have a way to tell time anymore.

Some time later, Dameron returned. Hux startled at the sound of the door sliding open and he raised his head from where was resting it against the durasteel surface of the table. He blinked rapidly and tried to look composed.

“How long has it been?” Hux asked, wondering if Dameron was planning on maintaining the same approach from earlier.

“You’ve been here for almost twenty-four hours.” He placed a bottle of water and a box of saltines on the table and pushed them toward Hux, sitting down in front of him again.

“What am I supposed to do to earn this?” Hux hoped it came across as disdainful and not as a desperate query.

“Nothing. Just take them.” When Hux didn’t make a move, he sighed. “Do you think they’ve been poisoned or do you just not want to eat while I’m here? Both ideas are stupid, for the record.”

Hux grabbed the saltines and glared at him, but he wasn’t even looking at Hux anymore; he was instead preoccupied with something on his datapad. Hux made himself eat slowly and drink carefully and by the time he was done, it seemed like at least an hour had passed. Something about the companionable silence of eating with someone sitting across from him was foreign to Hux.

“What is this?” Dameron asked once Hux was done eating, pushing the datapad across the table.

“It looks like a building,” Hux said flatly.

“Your powers of observation are truly legendary.” He rolled his eyes and pushed the datapad closer. “What are you guys doing here?”

“So much for not having to do anything to earn it, right?” It was the kind of underhanded maneuver that Hux could appreciate. However, if they expected Hux to feel indebted to them they would be waiting for a long time.

“No, that’s not what this is. Feel free to tell me to fuck off if you want.”

Hux looked at the picture, then back to Dameron. “I don’t know,” he said honestly.

“You don’t know?”

“It was an abandoned research facility. Until a few weeks ago when Ren started using it. I don’t know what he’s doing there and he’s not big on sharing. All I know is that he meets his knights there sometimes.”

“When will he be there next?”

Hux looked away. “I would like to be alone now.”

Dameron seemed frustrated for a second but left without another word.

When Dameron came back he leaned both hands on the backrest of the chair in front of Hux, the muscles on his forearms tense. “Would you go after them? The people who captured you?”

“You mean, after my daring escape?”

“Sure, let’s go with that. Would you?”

“I don’t even know who they are,” Hux said with a shrug, gritting his teeth when it upset his shoulder.

“Playing dumb doesn’t suit you. Cut it out.”

“I guess I should leave that kind of performance to you.”

Dameron shrugged. “I have been told I can convincingly play ‘pretty but dumb.’“

“I imagine there’s hardly any acting involved.”

“Oh, you mean because they’re both true?” he said, leaning forward and even widening his eyes a little.

Hux looked away. He had walked directly into that conversational trap. “We will go after them if they continue to defy and sabotage the work the First Order has set to accomplish here.”

Hux waited a long moment for a reply but none came.

Out of the corner of his eye, Hux saw Dameron move away, followed by the distinctive sound of a lock engaging and disengaging.

“I forgot to take your binders off the last time,” Dameron said when he reentered Hux’s cell a few — or maybe more — hours later.

He looked harried, almost anxious, and the feeling became transmittable once he came near Hux. He flinched as Dameron kneeled in front of him and took the binders off. He massaged Hux’s wrists and hands quickly and efficiently and Hux was too stunned by his behavior to properly react.

Dameron took the cuffs with him when he moved to sit on the other side of the table and said, “I know you’re not loyal to Ren and Ren isn’t loyal to the First Order, so I really think—”

“Ren is the Order.”

“More reason to want them to go down, then.”

“What do you have that you can use against him? Against a powerful Force user like Ren? Spare me the platitudes about hope and the desire to do good. That’s not what I’m looking for.” Hux’s words sounded dangerously close to talking with intent.

“Are you asking about Rey?”

“The scavenger Ren’s obsessed with, right. Is she prepared to even—?” She seemed so young to Hux, so small compared to Ren. The Force could be deceptive, though.

“She’s stronger than you think, than she might seem. She’s not the only Force user on our side either.”

Hux scoffed. “I don’t believe your general will do whatever it takes to stop Ren.” Unconditional love from a parent wasn’t a familiar concept to Hux but it seemed to be generally accepted as the norm.

“I didn’t mean Leia.”

When he didn’t elaborate, Hux was forced to play his game and ask. “Who?”

“Finn.” Dameron must have been referring to the former stormtrooper. An oversight on Hux’s part.

Hux frowned. “Does he know you’re telling me that? Why would you do it in the first place? I could turn around and take that information to Ren.”

“He knows and I don’t believe you would do that for a pat in the head. I’m trying to build some trust between us. What can I do to push you in the right direction?”

“You’re a shitty negotiator.”

Dameron chuckled. “Yeah, I feel like I’m more concerned by your looming deadline than you are. Tell me what you need.”

Hux pretended to consider his answer for a moment, but he had been thinking about it already. “Assurances.”

“You got them. We will never threaten to reveal your identity to anyone, no one will know about you except me and Leia. You won’t be dealing with anyone else either.”

That was a nice sentiment, Hux supposed. “I want to know you’ll take him down. That you will do more than your best. If I do it, I want to know you’re as willing to die for this as I am.”

“I am. All of us are.” When Hux didn’t respond, he stood up and said, “decide on the way there. We don’t have time for this.”

“On the way where?”

“On the way to wherever you were staying. I’m taking you back there.”

“You’re trying to manipulate me. To inspire gratitude in me,” Hux said.

“Nope, I’m just trying to keep you alive.”

“You should know you wouldn’t get the same treatment if the roles were reversed.”

“That’s precisely why I’m doing it. If I don’t act any different than a mass murderer then I’ve failed a lot of people. Starting with myself.” He turned around and didn’t check to see what Hux would do.

When Hux followed him out the door, the long and narrow hallway that led to the exit was empty except for Dameron, who was impatiently tapping his fingers against his leg. “Come on, then.”

Hux was sure the trick would reveal itself later but for now, he kept walking.


End file.
